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| A Guide to the Queen’s Speech: Crown Jewels, Black Rod and a Mace | A Guide to the Queen’s Speech: Crown Jewels, Black Rod and a Mace |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| LONDON — A “hostage,” a search for explosives, heaps of royal jewels and a five-foot silver gilt mace. Welcome to the reopening of Britain’s Parliament, replete with ancient traditions and elaborate rituals, and infused with tension over the country’s looming exit from the European Union. | LONDON — A “hostage,” a search for explosives, heaps of royal jewels and a five-foot silver gilt mace. Welcome to the reopening of Britain’s Parliament, replete with ancient traditions and elaborate rituals, and infused with tension over the country’s looming exit from the European Union. |
| The restart of government business on Monday starts with a speech by Queen Elizabeth II, a significant ceremonial duty that sets out the government’s agenda. Then, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s attempts to navigate the Brexit deadline, Oct. 31, will be back at center stage as lawmakers return to Westminster to pick apart his manifesto. | The restart of government business on Monday starts with a speech by Queen Elizabeth II, a significant ceremonial duty that sets out the government’s agenda. Then, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s attempts to navigate the Brexit deadline, Oct. 31, will be back at center stage as lawmakers return to Westminster to pick apart his manifesto. |
| Hours of royal pomp and stagecraft will also play out in the halls of Parliament as the queen and her entourage make an elaborate guest appearance at Britain’s government buildings. | Hours of royal pomp and stagecraft will also play out in the halls of Parliament as the queen and her entourage make an elaborate guest appearance at Britain’s government buildings. |
| The opening is rife with ceremony and symbolism, all of it steeped in history — with some elements dating back to the Middle Ages. Here is a guide. | The opening is rife with ceremony and symbolism, all of it steeped in history — with some elements dating back to the Middle Ages. Here is a guide. |
| Some elements of Parliament’s reopening happen behind the scenes, including a ceremonial search of the cellars of government buildings for explosives. | Some elements of Parliament’s reopening happen behind the scenes, including a ceremonial search of the cellars of government buildings for explosives. |
| Before the queen’s arrival, her guards, decked out in royal red, trek down to the cellars, gas lamps in hand. Based on historical precedent, the tradition is a nod to the failed 1605 Gunpowder Plot by Guy Fawkes and his Catholic collaborators to blow up Parliament and, with it, King James I, a Protestant. | Before the queen’s arrival, her guards, decked out in royal red, trek down to the cellars, gas lamps in hand. Based on historical precedent, the tradition is a nod to the failed 1605 Gunpowder Plot by Guy Fawkes and his Catholic collaborators to blow up Parliament and, with it, King James I, a Protestant. |
| Then there is the hostage taking. | Then there is the hostage taking. |
| A member of Parliament is ceremonially held hostage in Buckingham Palace while the queen visits Westminster, just in case the lawmakers decide not to return her. | A member of Parliament is ceremonially held hostage in Buckingham Palace while the queen visits Westminster, just in case the lawmakers decide not to return her. |
| This is rooted in the 1600s, when the relationship between Parliament and the monarchy was particularly fraught under Charles I. (He was eventually beheaded at the end of a civil war.) | This is rooted in the 1600s, when the relationship between Parliament and the monarchy was particularly fraught under Charles I. (He was eventually beheaded at the end of a civil war.) |
| The queen will parade from her home in Buckingham Palace through the streets of London to the government buildings at Westminster in a horse-drawn carriage escorted by the Household Cavalry, who serve as her mounted bodyguards. | The queen will parade from her home in Buckingham Palace through the streets of London to the government buildings at Westminster in a horse-drawn carriage escorted by the Household Cavalry, who serve as her mounted bodyguards. |
| The Imperial State Crown, the Cap of Maintenance and the Great Sword of State will arrive in their own carriage. | The Imperial State Crown, the Cap of Maintenance and the Great Sword of State will arrive in their own carriage. |
| The monarch will pull up to a special passageway — a looming archway known as the Sovereign’s Entrance — that’s reserved just for her. | The monarch will pull up to a special passageway — a looming archway known as the Sovereign’s Entrance — that’s reserved just for her. |
| Then it’s time for a costume change. The monarch will head into the elaborate Robing Room, and emerge wearing the Imperial State Crown and Robe of State, an 18-foot red velvet cape. | Then it’s time for a costume change. The monarch will head into the elaborate Robing Room, and emerge wearing the Imperial State Crown and Robe of State, an 18-foot red velvet cape. |
| The crown has 2,868 diamonds and hundreds of other jewels, including 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds and 269 pearls. Think bling. | |
| It must be heavy, particularly for the 93-year-old monarch. But Elizabeth is an expert in opening Parliament, having conducted the ceremony dozens of times throughout her reign. The exceptions were in 1959, when she was pregnant with Prince Andrew, and in 1963, when she was pregnant with Prince Edward. | It must be heavy, particularly for the 93-year-old monarch. But Elizabeth is an expert in opening Parliament, having conducted the ceremony dozens of times throughout her reign. The exceptions were in 1959, when she was pregnant with Prince Andrew, and in 1963, when she was pregnant with Prince Edward. |
| One fully kitted out, she will lead a procession through the Royal Gallery, packed with 600 guests, to the chamber of the House of Lords. The Great Sword of State and the Cap of Maintenance, symbols of sovereign power and authority, are carried in front of the queen by two peers. The queen will then mount the throne in the Lords’ Chamber and wait for her remaining audience to arrive. | One fully kitted out, she will lead a procession through the Royal Gallery, packed with 600 guests, to the chamber of the House of Lords. The Great Sword of State and the Cap of Maintenance, symbols of sovereign power and authority, are carried in front of the queen by two peers. The queen will then mount the throne in the Lords’ Chamber and wait for her remaining audience to arrive. |
| Sarah Clarke, the jauntily dressed House of Lords official known as the Usher of the Black Rod, named for the black stick that she wields, is then sent from the Lords’ Chamber to summon the lawmakers in the House of Commons. | Sarah Clarke, the jauntily dressed House of Lords official known as the Usher of the Black Rod, named for the black stick that she wields, is then sent from the Lords’ Chamber to summon the lawmakers in the House of Commons. |
| On approach, the speaker of the House of Commons then — ceremoniously, of course — slams the door in her face. | On approach, the speaker of the House of Commons then — ceremoniously, of course — slams the door in her face. |
| This tradition, which dates from the English Civil War of the 1600s, symbolizes the lawmaking body’s independence from the monarchy. After three strikes on the door, Black Rod — who was appointed Lady Usher in November 2017 and took up her duties early the following year — is let in, along with a procession of lawmakers, to listen to the queen’s speech. | This tradition, which dates from the English Civil War of the 1600s, symbolizes the lawmaking body’s independence from the monarchy. After three strikes on the door, Black Rod — who was appointed Lady Usher in November 2017 and took up her duties early the following year — is let in, along with a procession of lawmakers, to listen to the queen’s speech. |
| Accompanying her is the sergeant-at-arms, whose role dates from the 1400s, carrying the mace: a five-foot, silver-gilt ornamental staff that represents the royal authority of the crown and dates from at least 1559. | Accompanying her is the sergeant-at-arms, whose role dates from the 1400s, carrying the mace: a five-foot, silver-gilt ornamental staff that represents the royal authority of the crown and dates from at least 1559. |
| Then it’s time for the main event. | Then it’s time for the main event. |
| From atop a throne in the House of Lords, the queen sets out the agenda and legislative policies of Mr. Johnson’s Conservative Party, and it’s typically a formality. | From atop a throne in the House of Lords, the queen sets out the agenda and legislative policies of Mr. Johnson’s Conservative Party, and it’s typically a formality. |
| The Sovereign’s Throne — elaborately carved wood, gilded, set with crystals and upholstered in royal red velvet — was constructed and designed in 1847. It is based on a throne from 1308 that sits nearby in Westminster Abbey. | The Sovereign’s Throne — elaborately carved wood, gilded, set with crystals and upholstered in royal red velvet — was constructed and designed in 1847. It is based on a throne from 1308 that sits nearby in Westminster Abbey. |
| The speech, and the aftermath, promises to be anything but routine. | The speech, and the aftermath, promises to be anything but routine. |
| Mr. Johnson lost his majority in Parliament in September after expelling 21 Conservative lawmakers. Legislators had seized control of Parliament, fearful that he was on a path to crash Britain out of the European Union without a deal. The nation’s highest court rebuked him for suspending Parliament unlawfully in his drive to pull the country out of the bloc. Another election is likely sooner rather than later. | |
| So members of Parliament are likely to pounce on the government’s road map and deny him an affirmative vote. | So members of Parliament are likely to pounce on the government’s road map and deny him an affirmative vote. |